LITTLE RED CUTTLEFISH

Name: LITTLE RED CUTTLEFISH
Author: Henry Herz
ISBN: 978-1-4556-2146-0

by Henry Herz & Josh Herz & Harrison Herz ; illustrated by Kate Gotfredson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2016

Heroic Little Red makes such a splash that even though no one gets eaten or cut open, even the most ghoulish among young...

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In this strangely familiar tale, the titular cephalopod meets a big bad tiger shark while carrying a basketful of crab cakes to her grandma.

Along with silly bits, this buoyant benthic variant includes lots of authentic marine detail. Dispatched with parental reminders to “stay out of the seaweed, and don’t ink strangers,” Little Red floats through a brightly colored reef, chasing the occasional shrimp and responding rather rudely to the greetings of a sea cucumber and a yellow octopus. No sooner does she arrive at Grandma’s than the toothy shark attacks—but after an exciting chase marked by a quick dive into the sand with an instant color change, plus a well-timed cloud of ink, Little Red escapes and goes off, tentacle in tentacle, with Grandma for a snack: “I bet we could wolf down these crab cakes.” Gotfredson gives most of the cast, including that sea cucumber, big human eyes but otherwise renders the reef and its tropical denizens with fair accuracy, and the authors append nature notes on cuttlefish and tiger sharks. The colors pop, and shifts in perspective keep readers engaged.

Heroic Little Red makes such a splash that even though no one gets eaten or cut open, even the most ghoulish among young readers won’t be disappointed. (websites) (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4556-2146-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Pelican

Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE HITHERTO SECRET EXPERIMENTS OF MARIE CURIE
edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt & Henry Herz

- BOOK REVIEW
COMING OF AGE
edited by Jonathan Rosen & Henry Herz

- BOOK REVIEW
I AM SMOKE
by Henry Herz ; illustrated by Mercè López

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DEAR BEAST

by Dori Hillestad Butler ; illustrated by Kevan Atteberry ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 12, 2020

An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag.

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Epistolary dispatches from the eternal canine/feline feud.

Simon the cat is angry. He had done a good job taking care of his boy, Andy, but now that Andy’s parents are divorced, a dog named Baxter has moved into Andy’s dad’s house. Simon believes that there isn’t enough room in Andy’s life for two furry friends, so he uses the power of the pen to get Baxter to move out. Inventively for the early-chapter-book format, the story is told in letters written back and forth; Simon’s are impeccably spelled on personalized stationery while Baxter’s spelling slowly improves through the letters he scrawls on scraps of paper. A few other animals make appearances—a puffy-lipped goldfish who for some reason punctuates her letter with “Blub…blub…” seems to be the only female character (cued through stereotypical use of eyelashes and red lipstick), and a mustachioed snail ferries the mail to and fro. White-appearing Andy is seen playing with both animals as a visual background to the text, as is his friend Noah (a dark-skinned child who perhaps should not be nicknamed “N Man”). Cat lovers will appreciate Simon’s prickliness while dog aficionados will likely enjoy Baxter’s obtuse enthusiasm, and all readers will learn about the time and patience it takes to overcome conflict and jealousy with someone you dislike.

An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag. (Fiction. 6-8)

Pub Date: May 12, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-8234-4492-2

Page Count: 80

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PET PARADE
by Dori Hillestad Butler ; illustrated by Kevan Atteberry

- BOOK REVIEW
KING & KAYLA AND THE CASE OF THE GOLD RING
by Dori Hillestad Butler ; illustrated by Nancy Meyers

- BOOK REVIEW
THE TREASURE TROOP
by Dori Hillestad Butler ; illustrated by Tim Budgen

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EVERGREEN

by Matthew Cordell ; illustrated by Matthew Cordell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 7, 2023

A spellbinding tale that will never brown or fade with time.

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Soup is always the correct solution.

Evergreen, a young squirrel who lives high in a tree in Buckthorn Forest, is afraid of most things, but top of the list is thunderstorms. When her mother, who makes magical soup, asks her to take an acorn full of soup to Granny Oak, who is ill with the flu, Evergreen is afraid that she won’t be brave enough to do it. But she knows she must—and that she must be careful not to spill a drop, as “Granny Oak will need every bit of it to get better.” Setting off, the scared squirrel encounters a menagerie of adventures and forest creatures in her journey. It’s a wild, imaginative read and one that twists and turns like a forest path, with unexpected surprises along the way. Cordell is a masterful storyteller, and readers will love following Evergreen’s journey as she grows into a more confident squirrel. The artwork is the real star of the show, however; there’s a hint of Sendak in the characters’ humorous expressions and in the timeless pen-and-watercolor backgrounds that cry out to be examined in detail. Educators and caregivers will love reading this story aloud in installments, and readers will adore seeing what Evergreen encounters in her travels. A hint of future stories will tantalize readers, who will close the book eager for a new volume to devour.

A spellbinding tale that will never brown or fade with time. (Early chapter book. 6-8)